Mini Albums have always been my passion…. To be able to create a project that showcases a specific event, or holds my favourite pictures in a manageable album I can tuck in my purse, just gets my creative juices flowing!

This little album was originally created as a short make and take in my Retail shop on National Scrapbook day, and has always held a special place in my heart…

Because we wanted to make sure EVERYONE was able to create an album in the time allotted, we needed an adhesive that would help make the folding easier…and what did we use… ScraPerfect’s Best Glue Ever of course!!!

For those of you who know me…I use VERY few adhesives in my crafting projects…The reason is because I’m too lazy to reach for anything beyond my small work space, so having too many adhesive choices, just makes me crazy…

So I HAVE to be discerning and make the RIGHT choice about which adhesives to use…

If you’ve been in class with me, you’ve heard the question… “Jessie, what adhesive did you use on this delicate die-cut”…my answer is always “The Best Glue Ever“…which promptly gets the reply “Which one is that?”…which of course I respond with “The Best Glue Ever“, (at this point with a mischievous glint in my eye)…I will then hold up my bottle and say with great pleasure…”You’ve GOT to be the Best Glue Ever, if that’s the name you put on the label!”

Okay, so why do I love this adhesive so much…

If you haven’t guessed by now, I LOVE to chat! And often while gesticulating with my hands! And most likely when I’m supposed to be gluing something down….

The Best Glue Ever doesn’t dry…it just gets stickier! Which is PERFECT for me! I can chat, apply some glue… chat some more… apply some glue…go answer the phone (you know it happens!)… and then attach my die-cut to my card without worrying that it won’t stick! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

This card that I created for a class, is the PERFECT example of using my Best Glue Ever to it’s full advantage…the background die is “Stick Frames” by Memory Box, the greenery is “Freida Leaf” also by Memory Box, and the Calla Lily (my FAVOURITE!!) is by Dee’s Dystinctively…This die has the solid Calla background Die, as well as the outline, so you can create a huge assortment of effects! On these Lilies I used Pebeo‘s Prisme and Moon Fantasy Paints, and when the panels dried, I attached the Lily outlines with…Best Glue Ever!

And for this project, I used the Best Glue Ever WITHOUT the fine tip attachment…what’s a “fine Tip Attachment” you ask…well, that is for ANOTHER blog post!

So in the midst of trying to get my room organized, I found LOTS of UFO’s…what is a UFO you ask? Well, it’s an Un-Finished Object!

This Vinyl Die-cut Quote was something I bought at Treasured Memories in Belleview , in …ummm…2007? (This Treasured Memories went out of business in 2010) The frame was purchased from…can’t recall…in 2009…maybe?

And I bought the snowflake paper fromCountry Lane Scrapbookingin 2014…with EVERY intention of getting this project completed for Christmas 2014…but now it’s August 2015, and it still wasn’t finished! Yikes!

So, now was the time! I took a break from organizing my room, and added SookWang Tape to the inner ridge in the frame that holds the glass in place.

I inserted the Snowflake paper into the frame, making sure it was straight, ’cause once that “Sook” is stuck, it’s STUCK! Then I removed the protective cover from the Vinyl and placed it onto the front of the glass…

After burnishing the transfer tape, to ensure that the vinyl had transferred to the glass, I gently peeled it back to finally see my “now Vintage” vinyl quote…I peeled from different sides and angles as some of my letters had trouble sticking…I guess that’s a sign I should have done his project sooner!

There it is, Finished & Fabulous! And it only took about 15 minutes from start to finish! Hmmm, what other UFO’s can I find in my Craft Room…

I spent the week packing up everything on and around my desk… as well as everything on, around, under, beside and IN my cutting table (aka the old Cherish the Thought Cash Desk)…

So THAT’S what the desk looks like!

This beautiful desk came to me from a friend of mine back in 2009 and it was in the store until we moved to the location on Schoolhouse and couldn’t get this 120lb oak desk up the stairs! We barely got it into my craft room…in fact, to be honest, I had to recruit my neighbour to help Andrew get it up into the room as I was completely useless when it came to lifting it!

Though I totally forgot to take a picture of my empty “cash desk”, I did remember to snatch up my camera to capture my Fabulous Husband taking apart my “cutting table”…

He even carefully saved every teeny bit of the lovely panelling so we could put it back on after the transformation…

That’s a knife that Andrew made himself! It came in REALLY handy!

So…WHERE did all my “stuff” go….

The Hallway…

Ella’s room…

The bathroom counter…oops, didn’t take a picture of that!

and onto Our Bed!

Basically, ANYWHERE I could put it and still be able to walk around….

Part 1 of our plan was simply to get the cutting table and desk into position…with these two large pieces in place, we could “work around” them getting everything else sorted out later…

But of course, as with most “Best Laid Plans”, we ran into a few issues…all the pieces of furniture in the room are butted up against each other…Andrew even made a comment that I used “Every Nook & Cranny” to store my supplies! So…when we thought we could just put the cutting table in place and position my 13″ x 13″ Cardstock storage boxes around them and be done…well, some of the boxes were crammed with UFO’s (Unfinished Objects) and so I figured I had better sort through these projects and decide which ones I was ACTUALLY going to finish, and which ones could have their paper pieces donated to Ella’s school…

Cardstock, Cardstock and more ummm, unfinished projects yikes!

Once I went through all of THAT, we were able to get the desk into position under the window! Whew!

But then I noticed a problem…My Vintage Drawer Cabinet was now “stuck” in the corner…In order to move it, (because i wanted it in the opposite corner of course!) we would have to remove the drawers (Obviously! Because they are full of all my glitter, Glimmer Mists, embossing pastes, fabric, mini alpha stamps, ziploc bags, Distress stains, Walnut Inks, and Pearl Powders!) but now the drawers are jammed up against the side of the desk!

Time to move the cabinet before we get too far “in”… But first to clear off the top of the cabinet! This is where I stored all my Bigz Dies…I want to put them on the shelf over my “new” cutting table…but that’s where I have some MORE UFO’s…so it’s time to sort those too…

I think you may be starting to see the issue…

10 hours later with only 2 short breaks for lunch and dinner…almost everything was out of the hallway (and Ella’s room, and my bed, and the bathroom), and “sort of” in place…

Okay, so by now some of you may have realized that as much as I try to be an organized person, as much as I like things “in their place”, I struggle to keep it all together…

And now I’m going to unveil my hidden “secret”….my Craft Room…

My Craft Desk…though to be honest, I haven’t used it in months, I’ve been designing on my cutting table!

I’ve been wanting to get it organized, and blog about the tips and tricks I’ve learned from all of YOU over the years, but I kept putting it off until I had “cleaned” my room enough so that it was suitable for pictures…

But honestly, this room won’t ever be suitable for pictures! So I’m trying a new tact…embarrassment!

Design Area…Viva Decor Fabulousness and Sprays!

If I show you how bad it looks after I’ve cut kits for an 8 person class, and BEFORE I’ve put stuff away properly, then maybe it will push me into getting this “re-do my room” project finished!

When we closed the retail shop, products I “LOVED” came home with me. Whether I had any intention of using them or not, they were stuffed haphazardly into my 9′ x 10′ spare bedroom. (bedroom!? there’s NO room for a bed in here!)

Ribbon! The Lace didn’t fit in the picture!

And when we had people over, THIS is the room we shoved everything into and tried to close the door (I stress the word tried…as we can’t close the door with THIS organizer hanging off it!)

If you look closely, you can see that I made several “attempts” at organization…but when I stumbled onto Mamie Jane’s Blog last week, I realized that my “Craft Room” did not represent my True Passions.

That my clutter was actually stifling the artist inside my head, and that I NEEDED to find her again!

After all…How did I go from THIS…

Cherish the Thought circa 2008

To THIS…

Hurley Craft Room circa July 2015 Stamps. Stamps, and Stencils…

This Vintage girl NEEDS to be re-inspired, so over the next few months, my fabulously wonderful husband is going to help me get the “Hurley Studio” in order…and we will use this blog to track our progress…it could be slow going as I still have classes to design and prep for, but I promise to take pictures along the way to hopefully inspire you to organize some of YOUR card-making stash…so please leave comments as we go along if you’ve used any of the idea’s…

4. Create a space that inspires me, and is still “work-in-able”…(you may have heard me lament about various magazine articles that PROMISE to get you organized, but when you look at the pictures, they have 5 sheets of paper and 4 bottles of paint, REALLY!?! WHO crafts like that? )

Cardstock, Cardstock and more ummm, unfinished projects yikes!

So, with this first part written, I’m off to my room to pack up some boxes and make some space to start moving some furniture! Wish me luck!